


The Yeti Union

by AsterRoc



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Activism, Gen, it isn't Rule 63 if the genders aren't specified in canon, unions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-31
Updated: 2013-06-26
Packaged: 2017-12-13 12:55:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/824533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsterRoc/pseuds/AsterRoc
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of vignettes about the Professional Association of North Pole Yeti and their shop steward Phil.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Thug for N. St. North

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now playing [Which Side Are You On? (Dropkick Murphies version)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKWfnO7fhQM)

Her name was really Auoogawooga, but ever since that thug had begun calling her “Phil,” it had stuck. She’d tried convincing her brothers and sisters that accepting the name gave the greedy powers-that-be even more more strength, but they had disagreed saying that since he was trying to break into their employer's workplace, that it meant the two were not in agreement. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” and all that. Some of the other union members felt they should even be helping him to break in! 

Auoogawooga advised them that to do so would be considered insubordination, which was grounds for termination. 

Then the employer not only let the thug in, but took him on an inspection tour. It was clearly the beginning of a merger, which boded poorly for the employees as there were often massive layoffs accompanying such change in management. To add insult to injury, the thug spotted Auoogawooga during the inspection tour, noted how the other Yeti deferred to her, and used her nickname. Clearly the thug was attempting to take her down a notch. Well, on the plus side, that showed the thug viewed her as a threat. 

She would take that little bit of strength he admitted her, and build upon it. Auoogawooga had time, she was in it for the long haul, and the workers would break the Guardians’ power and reclaim it for the little people like themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the soundtrack, you can also try the [Natalie Merchant version](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxfZtNEG1xU). 
> 
> FWIW I don't consider this an instance of Rule 63 since RotG isn't explicit about the genders of the yeti.
> 
> Many of these vignettes will be based upon my own experiences. Species will be changed to protect the individuals in question.


	2. Other Duties As Assigned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mediator’s decision on a grievance over assigned work duties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope the format of this chapter doesn’t turn too many people off, it's a one-time thing. 
> 
> Now listening to [“Look For the Union Label”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lg4gGk53iY). The guy doing the intro cracks me up.

Planet Earth  
North Pole  
Superior Court 

CIVIL DOCKET#: NQS-23455-9 

RE: Professional Association of North Pole Yeti et al. v. Santa’s Workshop et al.

TO: Brrahgagar  
Legal Council  
Professional Association of North Pole Yeti  
North Pole  
Planet Earth

FROM:  
Clerk of the Courts

  
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION OF NORTH POLE YETI, INCORPORATED  
AUOOGAWOOGA “PHIL”  
GRAUNAAULA

v.

SANTA’S WORKSHOP, INCORPORATED  
NICHOLAS ST. NORTH  
THE WARREN, INCORPORATED  
E. ASTER BUNNYMUND  


  
MEMORANDUM OF DECISION AND ORDER ON PLAINTIFFS' MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT  


The above-captioned plaintiffs (collectively, "the plaintiffs") brought this action against the above-captioned defendants ("the defendants") seeking declaratory relief. The plaintiffs request a declaratory judgment that a change in work site and an addition of holiday is considered a change in work conditions, a prohibited practice requiring mandatory impact bargaining, and that they are entitled to overtime pay, as well as additional pay under the collective bargaining agreement between the Warren and the Affiliated Googies of Easter. For the following reasons, the plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED in part and AFFIRMED in part, and judgment shall enter in favor of the defendants in part and in favor of the plaintiffs in part.

BACKGROUND  
Plaintiff Professional Association of North Pole Yeti, Incorporated (“PANPY”) is a non-profit “employee organization” which represents a bargaining unit of full and part-time Yeti1 employees who work at Santa’s Workshop, located at Santoff Claussen, North Pole. The individual plaintiffs are employees at Santa’s Workshop.

On the instance of April 7 of the previous year, the day before Easter, the plaintiffs were ordered to accompany the employer, Nicholas St. North (“North”), off-campus to the location of the Warren, where they were ordered to assist E. Aster Bunnymund (“Bunny”) in his workplace’s normal conducting of business. 

The plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment that the individual plaintiffs are eligible for back overtime pay plus travel expenses as recompense for the temporary change in work conditions, a declaratory judgment that they are eligible for additional pay as employees under the conditions of the collective bargaining agreement between the Warren and the Affiliated Googies of Easter (“the WAGE contract”), and a writ of mandamus prohibiting the defendants from future changes in work condition without notice or impact bargaining. The defendants, however, maintain that the temporary change in work conditions falls under the “other duties as assigned” clause of Section 13.C.4.d.i, of the collective bargaining agreement between Santa’s Workshop and PANPY (“the SWPANPY contract”).

DISCUSSION

A. Change in Work Location  
The plaintiffs argue that the change of work place to the Warren constituted a unilateral change in work conditions, mandating 30 days notice and impact bargaining as per Holiday General Law 89.12.f. The plaintiffs also request reimbursement for travel expenses to the Warren. However, due to the usage of snow globe portals provided by the employer, we find no monetary hardship involved in the travel to a new location.

Change in work conditions however depend not only upon travel time and expense, but also upon the need to become familiar with the new location or tasks. The plaintiffs have presented no evidence that they were negatively affected by the change in work conditions. 

In this instance, the employees in question were given training in the new tasks for this temporary change as part of their work time. The defendants have shown evidence that in fact plaintiff Auoogawooga “Phil” has had her employability enhanced by her training and is now eligible for a promotion. The defendants stipulate that this additional training was not intended to be precedent-setting, instead being the minimum required to make use of the employees. Graunaaula on the other hand received no additional training, as he was engaged in substantively identical tasks, with only minor modifications to morphology of the objects to be painted. 

In addition the defendants claim that this falls under the “other duties as assigned” clause in Section 13.C.4.d.i, of the SWPANPY contract. “Other duties as assigned” typically does not involve a change in work condition however, so we rule that this instance is not covered by this clause. 

The court will enter summary judgment in favor of the defendants on the issue of Change in Work Location. 

B. Overtime Pay  
Section 9 of the SWPANPY contract outlines the customary work hours of Yeti employees. The defendants argued that Section 9.B.1.v (titled “Holiday Ramp-Up”) applies in this case, which states that no overtime pay is to be requested nor granted during the 30 days of the holiday season preceding the holiday itself. We find that although Christmas is not explicitly named as “the holiday,” and not withstanding North’s declaration of the importance of Easter, by past practice the sole holiday of Santa’s Workshop is Christmas. Should the defendants wish to expand this section to apply to additional holidays, that would need to be bargained into a subsequent contract. In the meantime, overtime pay is due to the employees in question for the events of April 7. 

Thus the court will enter summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs on the issue of Overtime Pay. 

C. Additional Pay as WAGE Employees  
The plaintiffs contend that while serving in the capacity of painters at the Warren, they are entitled to additional pay as per the WAGE contract. The defendants counter that an individual cannot hold two jobs with overlapping work hours simultaneously2, and that the duties of WAGE employees are substantively different from those held by the plaintiffs during the time in question. 

Plaintiff Graunaaula performed substantively the same duties at the Warren as he typically does at Santa’s Workshop. However the painting duties outlined in the WAGE contract do specify self-painting for the googie employees. As Graunaaula did not paint himself, he was not performing duties akin to those of WAGE employees.3 Plaintiff Auoogawooga “Phil” did not perform duties found in the WAGE contract, as neither herding googies nor standing guard are covered by the WAGE contract.4

The court will enter summary judgment in favor of the defendants on the issue of Additional Pay as WAGE Employees.

ORDER 

For the foregoing reasons, the Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED on the issues of Change in Work Location and Additional Pay as WAGE Employees, and AFFIRMED on the issue of Overtime Pay. Summary judgment entered in favor of the defendants on Change in Work Location and Additional Pay as WAGE Employees, and in favor of the plaintiffs on Overtime Pay, pursuant to H. G. L. 46(g).

Seraphina  
Mother Nature  
Justice of the Superior Court

1 See TINKLE #7 V. PANPY for the establishment of the precedent that holiday-related employee organizations may dictate species criteria for employment at a holiday workplace. 

2 This practice is sometimes referred to as “double-dipping.” Here we are avoiding that terminology so as to avoid confusion with the dying practice of the same name involving a wax resist and two dye colors. 

3 See also the case of DINGLE #2 (“THE EASTER ELF”), ET AL. V. SANTA’S WORKSHOP, ET AL. Although these cases are related, they have been separated for trial purposes because of the differing contracts affecting PANPY and the United Elfin Workers. 

4 Specifically, guard duties at the Warren are covered by non-unit professionals, the Sentinels, while herding googies is a management task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The SWPANPY contract is usually pronounced as the “swampy” contract. The elf union will feature in a future vignette.
> 
> Believe it or not, the “double-dipping” terminology confusion referred to in one of the footnotes is the sort of thing that actually comes up during these sorts of meetings. Each side will have different terms for the same thing, or use the same term for two different things, and in the tension of the situation hilarity ensues. This will sometimes come out in the official documents at the end, but usually disguised in such a bland way that even those present at the meetings won’t always catch it.


	3. Parliamentary Procedure – Meeting 196 of the Greater Holiday Workers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unions aren’t always united. A recounting of Auoogawooga’s early years with the union.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soundtrack: ["Talking Union” ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C13JFv4JfH8)

Ugadugahla, shop steward of Professional Association of North Pole Yeti, convinces Auoogawooga to attend the Greater Holiday Workers’ pseudo-annular meeting. It really took a lot of arm-twisting to convince her. It is on the last Saturday in August, and Auoogawooga was looking forward to a few weekends free before the beginning of the holiday ramp-up. But Ugadugahla says that their unit, PANPY, is supposed to send 10 people and so far she only has 8 yeti, including herself, willing to attend. If Auoogawooga won’t go, they run the risk of falling short of their quota. Besides, there’s always free lunch and it’s pretty good. After a few days of these pleas, Auoogawooga finally gives in. 

The meeting, she is told, takes place every year or three, and is where the GHW makes its most important decisions. Auoogawooga isn’t sure she knows enough about what’s going on to be making decisions for herself, let alone for the other PANPY members, but Ugadugahla points out that if they had strong opinions they would attend themselves. Instead, every year it’s a struggle to get enough people to attend to have a quorum. 

“What’s a quorum?” Auoogawooga asks. So her questions begin, innocently, but they don’t stop there. A quorum, she learns is the number of people required for a meeting to be official and so any decisions made count, and this number is defined in the organization’s ByLaws. Auoogawooga looks up the GHW ByLaws and reads through them. She doesn’t understand most of what she reads, but she figures if she’s going to be at this big meeting, she should have an idea what they are. She also looks up the PANPY ByLaws and reads them. 

When the meeting itself rolls along, Auoogawooga brings a copy of each on her iPad, not wanting to have to cart reams of paper through the portal. She made this particular iPad herself, it was her journeyman’s work, and it is now outdated compared to the models their employer has come up with since, but she remains proud of the work of her own hands, and it is sufficient for her needs. The elves passed on a rumor to her that they were working on a miniature version, but Auoogawooga smiled and thanked them and then laughed privately. Elves didn’t make things, and besides it’s not like Auoogawooga’s fingers were small enough to make use of a smaller touch device. 

This “year” the meeting is held on the last Saturday in August, in the linked conference centers of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. They at first attempted, Ugadugahla tells her, to find a place as central as possible, but as the center of the Earth is the actual workplace of the Affiliated Googies of Easter, they ended up scrapping that idea. In the end the concern about where they could meet without too many believers realizing their presence ended up dominating the discussion, so this year they chose a time and a place for the meeting where they could blend in easily with an existing event of costumed humans. 

As Auoogawooga sits nervously at a round table on the side of the room with some 8 other yetis and elves, some of whom she knows personally and others only by face, Ugadugahla begins to explain the intricacies of Robert’s Rules of Order to her. “Robert’s Rules,” she says, “is just one set of rules to govern how meetings happen, the order in which things occur, how votes take place, and so on. The most important thing you need to know is how and when to talk.” Not that Auoogawooga intends to talk, but she listens, rapt, nonetheless. 

There’s a little “cheat sheet” in Auoogawooga’s registration packet explaining some of these rules and terms, like “motion” means to suggest that something happen, and it can’t actually happen until after debate and a vote. “Point of Order” means that you think the chairperson isn’t doing things the right way. “Point of Information” is used to ask a question if something’s unclear, but Ugadugahla rolls her eyes in explaining this one, saying that it’s often misused. There’s all sorts of other things about challenging the chair, the minutes, and the agenda, but they all go over Auoogawooga’s head. 

As her head spins, a gavel bangs on the table at the front, and Auoogawooga looks up to the chairperson. This is the first time Auoogawooga has met the workers of the other GHW unions (well, other than the elves), and she cannot identify what the chairperson is – he is somewhat humanoid in shape, but smaller than most adult humans, a dark cloud seems to swirl around his form as his glowing yellow eyes sweep the room and command silence. Despite this, Auoogawooga taps on Ugadugahla’s shoulder and whispers to her, “where’s the chairman from?” 

“He’s a fearling, works at Under the Bed, in the Federation of Fearlings unit. Under the Bed also has the Congress of Nightmares.” At Auoogawooga’s gesture around the room, Ugadugahla continues describing the other attendees. Some of them she’s already heard of, such as the large group of bright shiny Tooth Fairies hovering around three tables. Others she is less familiar with, such as the large orange fruits and turnip with faces carved into them, who Ugadugahla says represent the Jack-o’-lanterns Trade Association. Ugadugahla tsks and makes sure to mention the organizations which have sent no representatives at all, such as the Little Green Men. 

The meeting continues in a blur to Auoogawooga, and she figures she may have to read the minutes later to have any chance of understanding what happened. The one thing she does manage to latch onto is that there is a proposal to give a full vote to non-verbal members. She points an inquisitive look at Ugadugahla, who explains that the GHW ByLaws only grant a full vote to those dues-paying union members who can talk, while others have a quarter of a vote. Shocked at this state of affairs, Auoogawooga spends most of the short debate looking up the rule. Sure enough, there it is.

> “Article 14, Section 7.d. Members who express themselves using spoken language shall have a full vote in all matters, including but not limited to voting in elections for officers. Members who do not express themselves using spoken language shall have a quarter (1/4) vote.”

By the time Auoogawooga looks up, there are three people at the microphone wishing to speak for and against an amendment to the ByLaws which would extend a full vote to all members. She realizes she has risen and added herself to the line as the first person begins to speak. The tiny tooth fairy’s twitters are so fast and high-pitched that Auoogawooga fails to catch a single word that she says, and Auoogawooga snorts to herself, pondering the value of speech. When the fairy flutters away from the microphone, some people clap, but Auoogawooga notices that Ugadugahla pointedly does not.

The next speaker possesses the shape of a black horse with grainy sides. Rather than speaking, dark grains of sand form shapes in the air above her. Auoogawooga sees human figures holding signs in front of a black mansion with tall columns in front. She sees a strong yet gentle face, a broad nose, fuzzy hair receding from the brow, suit and tie, and the face moves as the nightmare makes him talk, leaning on a podium, and Auoogawooga realizes the man is the human Martin Luther King Jr. A couple googies at the table beside her begin applauding loudly as they too identify this image, and with a quick glance back at her table she sees that Ugadugahla is as well. Auoogawooga grins at this, and as she catches Ugadugahla’s eye she receives a thumbs up of encouragement from her mentor. 

The third speaker is a small winged boy, who identifies himself as a cupid, and he speaks lengthily about how non-verbal members pay lesser dues than verbal members, and therefore should receive a lesser vote, and then it is Auoogawooga’s turn. She cannot remember later what her words were, but inspired by the earlier nightmare, she knows she talks about the humans’ Civil Rights movement, and the unfairness that just because a worker was created one way, or was endowed with life by his or her employer but not endowed with speech, that this should allow the individual a lesser status in the union. Auoogawooga was shaking when she began her speech, and she is shaking worse when she ends, though she is unsure whether the shaking is from nerves or the intensity of her emotion. Either way all the elves at her table jump up and applaud and ring their bells when she is done, along with some of the yeti. 

As she wobbles back to her seat on unsteady knees, Auoogawooga looks around the room. There are no other speakers after her, so the chairfearling calls the question – asks the people present to indicate whether they are in support of or opposition to the motion, by raising their hands or other appendages, blinking their lights, or bobbing up and down. Ugadugahla quickly whispers to Auoogawooga that at this meeting, at least, all individuals get a full vote because here they are representing their work unit, not themselves as individuals. 

“All in favor?” the chair hisses, somehow adding sibilants to the sentence. Auoogawooga and Ugadugahla each raise a furry hand high and proud. Unsurprisingly, all the non-vocal attendees vote in favor, eggs bouncing up and down, some of the jack-o’-lanterns blinking their lights, every elf raising a hand, nightmares bobbing their heads. A quick glance around the tables however, shows Auoogawooga that few of the verbal creatures present are voting in favor, and that the verbal creatures dominate over the non-verbal. 

“All thossssse opposssssed?” And a sea of hands and bobbing blocks Auoogawooga’s view of the room. 

“Motion failssss.” A gavel strikes the table, and the chair moves on to the next agenda item. 

After the meeting adjourns, on their walk back to the bathroom where it is safe to open portals, Auoogawooga suggests to Ugadugahla that the next year they need to bring more sympathetic members with them. Ugadugahla attempts to hide her smile at this from Auoogawooga, but she sees anyway and raises an eyebrow in question. Ugadugahla just shakes her head and says, “Just glad to hear that you’ll be coming back next year.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it wasn’t clear, this takes place sometime prior to the RotG film. Chapters 1 and 2 established that Auoogawooga has some level of authority within the union during RotG (shop steward is mentioned in the summary), and here she’s a newbie to the union. And if you missed the references, Meeting 196 is taking place at/during DragonCon. ;) 
> 
> It is really frickin’ hard to spellcheck this what with all the red squiggles under the yeti names - I don't want to train my spellchecker to accept yeti names, b/c I'm afraid of where it might start inserting them for other typos. If I missed any other spelling errors, let me know. 
> 
> The “Parliamentary Procedure” storyline will probably take up 4 chapters (but I may write other vignettes between). I was inspired to start it tonight by the debates on parliamentary procedure taking place in the Texas legislature after Wendy Davis’ filibuster. I actually really love Robert’s Rules of Order (the only set of parliamentary procedure which I actually know). I view their use as a game, where you need to know the rules and pick the ones that work to your advantage in the situation, and you win if you know them better and can pull out better ones than your opponent. Robert’s Rules reminds me a lot of my days of Magic: the Gathering.


End file.
